Tamoxifen Delivery to Breast Cancer Cells (MCF-7) Via Hydroxyapatite Microspheres

Drug delivery systems have been used in cancer treatment to increase drug effectiveness. The hydroxyapatite (HAP) based materials used in this area can provide drug transport to the target site without its deterioration. In this study, porous hollow hydroxyapatite microspheres (PHHMs) were produced by using the hydrothermal method. Tamoxifen (TAM) used in the treatment of breast cancer has been covalently attached to the produced microspheres. The obtained microsphere structures (tamoxifen-loaded hydroxyapatite, TAM/H) were successfully characterized by ATR-FTIR, FE-SEM, XRD, and DLS methods. The breast cancer cell line MCF-7 was used to examine the effect of the hybrid structure. The cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of TAM/H was compared with the TAM groups on MCF-7. Our results have showed that, the decrease in cell viability at 24 and 36 hours were still continued at 48 hours only in TAM/H groups. In addition, TAM/H was found to show a genotoxic affect by the increment in genetic damage index (GDI) and damaged cell percentage (DCP%). As a result, use of hydroxyapatite was suitable for the transport of TAM and that covalent binding was suitable for drug particle interaction with hybrid structure and thus controlled drug release occurred.